The Price of Self
Chapter: 5
Diversion
Another chapter up. I know this is an astonishing rate that I am putting this out at but what can I say. Spring Break + Fit of creative brilliance Lots of writing. Hope you enjoy.
It had been a few weeks since the group of Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis had left the small village were the problem had began. Now they were camping in a forest on the way to the town that Zelgadis had specified as a good place to begin the search for a cure. Lina sighed as she munched on the fish that she had caught earlier that day. She watched as Zel slowly ate the one fish he had picked out. She was about to say something when she noticed a hand reach for one of her fish. In a instant she stabbed at the hand with a stick before shouting, "Gourry keep away from my fish!"
"But, I'm still hungry and you took a lot of the fish for yourself," Gourry complaining as he rubbed his hand were Lina had stabbed him.
Lina huffed before replying, "That's because a growing girl needs a lot to eat."
Gourry sighed before saying lowly, "Growing everywhere but the chest that is."
As Gourry looked up he was met with a angry looking Lina Inverse. Before he could say anything he received an uppercut to the jaw before Lina lunged at him shouting, "Gourry you idiot! I'm going make you remember not to say those things if it is the last thing I do."
Zel sighed as he heard the beating that Gourry was enduring. 'At least I finally have a little time to think,' Zel thought as he felt reached out and found his mug of coffee.
The fight still blazed as Zel pulled out the same pouch as before and dumped in a dose of the powder. He mixed it in with his finger before taking a sip. 'Good, didn't overload the brew this time,' Zel thought as he drank his coffee.
After a few minutes Lina finished beating the pulp out of Gourry and went back to her seat. She bit into another fish and began to munch before looking up at Zelgadis. She watched as he drank from his coffee mug while putting the powder pouch back in his cloak. Lina sighed before thinking, 'Well it took a week but Zel is back to being his loner self. I understand that he wants to do things on his own but if he isn't careful he will become more like Rezo than he can imagine.'
After another hour the gang began to assign who would take the watches, "Well I guess that Gourry will take the first and then I'll take the other watch," Lina spoke.
Zel furrowed his brow and interjected, "It would be better if Gourry takes the first watch and then you and I take the other watches."
Lina looked at Zel before saying, "That's not needed you can get your rest and we'll just have long watches."
"Lina I am not some invalid that can't take care of himself. I can still hear and smell better than any human so I will be able to pick up on anything out of the ordinary," Zelgadis replied somewhat heatedly.
Lina glared at Zel even thought she knew it would not have the same effect as usual. "Fine! If you want to do it that way so be it. Gourry will take the first, Zel will take the second, and I'll take the last."
Zel heard the anger in Lina's voice but did not care. 'I am tired of her acting like I can't do anything on my own,' he thought before replying, "That's fine with me."
Zel sat near the fire as he began his watch for the night. 'This will show Lina that things are fine. Plus it gives me some time to make sure this is correct,' Zel thought as he pulled an old journal from his cloak.
Zel felt the top of the journal until he found the strip of ribbon that was used as a book mark. After flipping the journal open to the correct page he concentrated for a second while whispering an incantation that he thought he would never have to use. After finishing the spell his index finger began to glow and he place the finger on the page. As he ran his finger over the words he could read them as if he still had his eyesight. 'I never thought I would be using this spell. To think Rezo's reading spell has actually come in handy,' Zel thought as he continued to run his finger over the text.
After a bit he came across the piece text he was looking for. After double checking he then closed the journal and sighed. 'We're on the right path. Now I just have to get to Maderon to begin the search,' Zel thought as he stowed the journal away in his cloak and went back to his duty on watch.
It had been two days since the argument over watch and Lina was finally starting to cool down. She walked behind Zelgadis as he lead the way up the road with his staff in hand. 'At least he uses that. I'd have to beat him over the head if he refused that,' Lina thought before she looked around.
She noticed that they hadn't seen a cart of traveler for quite a while and no homes as well. "Hey, Zel," she called before continuing, "Were are we going. I haven't seen anyone on this road for days."
Zel turned his head, more to project his voice than anything else, and replied, "We are going to pass through Maderon and continue on to the town past it. I've heard they have some decent knowledge on cures."
Lina cocked an eye at Zel while thinking, 'If we are looking for cures why not go to Sairuun? They are the white magic capital of the world.'
After a moment Lina also remembered what Maderon was and shouted, "We have to go through that ghost town again! Couldn't we've chosen a better route? Last thing I want to do is fight a bunch of trolls."
Zel sighed before thinking, 'It was only a matter of time before she remembered,' before he replied, "The only reason there were trolls there last time was because of Dilgear. This time the most that will show up is a fox or some other wild animal."
"I don't see why we have to do this. Why can't we just go to Sairuun and look in the royal library? That would probably be the best place to begin looking," Lina protested as she stopped in her tracks.
Zel heard her stop because she stomped her feet when she did. 'Here we go...a Lina tantrum,' he thought before saying, "Because, I would like to look at some other places that are on the way first. And, also I'm not in any hurry to show up at Sairuun and have Amelia glued to my arm for days on end!"
Lina stopped and thought about what Zel had just said, 'He's got me there. I love Amelia but if I were in Zel's situation I wouldn't want to deal with her either.'
Lina then sighed and said, "Fine, we'll go through Maderon, but at the first sign of trouble I'm blowing that place to the ground."
"Wasn't that Maeron place where that guy with the long beard and the four arms attacked us," Gourry said as he placed his hand on his chin.
Lina gritted her teeth before picking up a rock and tossing it at Gourry. The rock connected with the blonde swordsman's head and he fell as Lina began to yell, "Gourry you idiot! How is it that you now start to remember all of this stuff!"
Zelgadis sighed as he waited for Lina to finish beating the pulp out of the swordsman. After that was finished and he heard Lina's telltale huff he began to walk again. 'At least she's going along with it so far. Now we just need to get there,' Zel thought as he continued to lead them down the path.
As night was slowly approaching the group reached Maderon and found an abandoned building to camp in. "Okay I'll go get dinner, Gourry you go gather wood for the fire, and Zel just have the camp ready."
Both Zel and Gourry nodded as they all went about there duty. After about ten minutes Zel had finished his job and moved towards the door of the building. He poked his head outside and listened. When he heard no one near he moved back into the building and made his way slowly up the old staircase of the building. After about five minutes he made it to the top and moved to the middle of the hall. 'I have to do this fast or Lina will figure out I'm up to something,' he thought as he produced a piece of chalk from his cloak. Zel slowly drew the circle before he placed the needed symbols on the inside of the small circle. After he finished he produced a small emerald from his cloak and place it in the middle. Zel began to chant as the symbols in the circle began to glow. As Zel continued the glow transferred to the emerald before the stone began to float. Zel finished the last bit of the incantation before grabbing the stone and wiping away the evidence of the circle he had just used. "Done, now to act like nothing happened until my turn at watch," Zel said to himself as he head back down the stairs to await Lina and Gourry's return.
The group ate in almost silence. Lina would hit Gourry every once in a while because he would try to steal her food. Other than Lina hitting Gourry and scolding him there was no talking. 'This isn't good,' Lina thought as she looked at Zelgadis, 'This is what he normally does when he is about to leave. I bet he thinks I won't notice...but calling him out on it won't lead to anything good either.'
"Same watches as usual," Lina asked as she watched Gourry and Zelgadis nod.
"Well, then I'm going to get some rest," Lina announced before crawling into her bed roll.
'I'll wait and see what he is up to,' Lina thought as she pretended to sleep and waited for Zelgadis to make the next move.
Zel was awakened for his watch. He waited for thirty minutes before her heard Gourry snoring soundly. He slowly stood up before turning around and heading towards the door. Right before he walked out he stopped and whispered to the room, "Sorry, but I have to do this on my own..."
With that Zelgadis walked out into the night while pulling the glowing emerald out of his pocket and following the direction spell that was now in the stone.
Lina's eyes where open when she heard the light sound of movement. She remained calm, knowing Zel could tell from her breathing if she was awake, and listened as he moved towards the door. A moment later she heard him whisper, "Sorry, but I have to do this on my own..."
Lina then heard Zel walk out the door and into the night. After she could not hear his footsteps anymore she sat up and looked outside. She could not see Zel but she stood up and dawned her cloak and her sword. 'You may think you have to do everything on your own...but I'm going to show you that you can trust me,' Lina thought as she head off into the night after Zelgadis.
Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.
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